El Sistema Greece

Help Joyce DiDonato bring music to refugee children in Greece

Joyce DiDonato is joining forces with the highly acclaimed music education program El Sistema to bring hope and inspiration to thousands of refugee children in Greece.

El Sistema, or “the system”, has brought positive social change to more than 700,000 children in Venezuela since it was founded in 1975 by Dr. José Antonio Abreu. By the end of 2016, a new program will be started in Greece, with the goal of bringing music education to the first 2,000 children in refugee camps in Athens and on the island of Lesvos.

The ultimate goal of El Sistema in Greece is to promote the social inclusion of refugee children in Greek/European society. By teaching them music, they are not only inspired to strive for a better future, but music provides the platform for dialogue and togetherness across diverse communities.

More than one million migrants have arrived in Greece since January 2015. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that children make up nearly 40 per cent of the stranded population. This figure amounted to 27,500 children in August 2016 and the numbers continue to rise.

Laurent Chapuis, UNICEF’s Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Response in Greece, said in a statement the waiting in the refugee camps is an eternity for children. Many are from conflict torn countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and have already missed out on years of schooling.

“Education is one of the most powerful ways to protect children from all forms of violence,” Chapuis added.

El Sistema has demonstrated its capacity as a sustainable model for education, progress and peace in more than 55 countries across the globe. It takes music to the most troubled places in the world, like now to the refugee camps of Greece, bringing with it opportunities for social inclusion and happiness.

Joyce DiDonato has agreed to be the patron of El Sistema Greece. You can help her bring music education to Greek refugee camps by simply clicking on the link below. In so doing, you are instrumental in cultivating the children’s creativity, free expression, imagination and participationskills, paving their way to a better future.

Your donation will contribute to:

• better the facilities for the music classes;
• put together sets of musical instruments;
• invite international pedagogues, teachers, artists and composers;
• secure the funding for the development of staff;
• expand the project to all refugee camps in Greece.

Joyce DiDonato would like to thank The Pure Land Foundation and Bruno Wang Productions for their generous support.

She would also like to thank Five Arts Foundation as recommended by Helen Berggruen, Susan and John Singer, Helen and Peter Bing, Paul Sekhri, The Howard and Sarah D. Solomon Foundation and Marnie and Kern Wildenthal for their additional support.